Mary Claire you are THREE weeks old!

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks already!

You are changing so much everyday.

You are up to 8 lbs 2 oz.

You are having more awake periods and they are lasting longer.

You seem to be developing a "faux-hawk" like your brothers. The hair on the top of your head stands up in a row.

Mommy survived her first "Daddy gone on business for two days trip" with six kids.

You met Mamaw Witcher, Aunt Betty and Uncle Glenn this week.

You went to Wal-Mart with all five of your siblings for the first time.

You hung out in the wrap and seem to think it's a pretty neat way to travel.



Your hair seems to be getting lighter. I think it will eventually be the color of your eyebrows.

You still spit up very little. Maybe once or twice a week.

You get the hiccups at least once a day.

You experienced your first major holiday - Christmas. Your 1st Christmas gifts included a stocking for the fireplace and your first baby doll.

You still don't really take a paci.

Mary Claire you are two weeks old

and what are you up to? . . . .



Thankfully, your bilirubin levels {jaundice} are finally going down and your weight is finally going up.



You weigh 7 lbs 6 oz in the outfit in the pictures.



You seem to have a little more of an appetite.



You have discovered your voice {see above ;) }.


You travel in the car really well.



You are a very sound sleeper. You have had blood drawn and not bothered to wake up.



Your brothers/sister fight over getting to hold you.



You are finally looking less yellow.

You DON'T spit up. I'm amazed. I had no idea that some babies didn't need bibs and burp cloths. I'm just praying you stay this way. ;-)




You still wear newborn and preemie clothes though the preemie seem to be a little short in the sleeves and a bit tight in the diaper.


You meet Mamaw and Grandpa Lawrence this week on Grandpa's birthday. He's 95 now so you have some catching up to do. :-)

You attended your first church service this week and met lots of people.

You were in your first extended family picture.

You finally got to meet your aunts, uncles and cousins. They all commented on how cute and tiny you are.

Mary Claire you are ONE week old!

Mary Claire, you are One Week Old!

You wake up at night about every 3 hours.

You are an extremely laid back baby.

You are having trouble staying awake to nurse but it's getting better.

You have been a bit jaundiced and have spent some time "sunning" in the window.

You have been to Memphis to take Mommy to the chiropractor twice. You handled the drive really well.

You have been wearing some preemie clothing though most of it is newborn.

You are incredibly loved by your brothers and sister. They beg to hold you everyday.

It's hard to believe you've been in our family for a whole week!

She's Here!

Introducing . . . . . .

Miss. Mary Claire

Witcher

Mary Claire arrived on Wednesday, December 8th at 9:53 pm. She weighs 7 lbs. 6 oz and is 19 3/4 inches long. We are all head over heels in love and find her to be the perfect addition to our family. The Lord had his guiding hand through every aspect of her delivery (does he ever not!).

Yes, she was really born in the garage and NO! it was not on purpose. The midwives were here and I'm incredibly thankful they were! I hope to get more details and pictures up soon but I do have a newborn, 5 other children and it's Christmas time. To say we're a little busy would be a huge understatement. We are blessed far more than we could have ever imagined!

Wordless Wednesday

The bigger the mess, the better the ice cream.

Hammer Time

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Welcome Daniel and Lydia

Today my former {not old :)} college roomate had TWINS!

Daniel and Lydia arrived this morning and we're super excited for this family of 9. Amy's mom wonders if something was in the plumbing in that apartment. LOL

The kids and I loaded up the storms and barely beat the rain. Congratulations, we can't wait to see more pictures.

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Welcome Baby ClaraBeth!

Baby ClaraBeth was due any day before we left. So we had a few projects to finish up. Madisyn and I decided to make a hospital door/welcome home wreath. I have seen the feather boa wreaths and while they are adorable, I wanted something a little different.

Hello Tulle!

I love the way this turned out! ClaraBeth has no choice but to be an Arkansas Razorback fan (Dad's nearly an alumni - just a few months left!) and I thought when the baby stat ribbons were removed it would be a perfect game day decoration. We finished it just in time as ClaraBeth arrived a few days early the day before we left.

(the lighting is a little off - it was more Razorback red than it looks here)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ching

The end of August/beginning of September we took a family vacation. The first order of business before heading out was to cash in our change jar. There was much discrepancy about how long we had been collecting change. The jar has lived in our room for sometime and once the ink pens, tooth brushes, buttons, and anything else Ben could cram down the neck was removed - we headed to Coin Star.

Somewhere along the way, we lost most of the boys so Madisyn and Henry got in on all the fun. It took us over 30 minutes to get all the change counted.

We carried in in to two denim bags that we weighed beforehand. We had nearly 50 lbs in change!! We felt like the armored car guys carrying bags full of money. :)

Madisyn thoroughly enjoyed watching the screen reflect the additional amount of each filling.

Our final receipt - $497.67 (before fees)

Coin Star charges a little less than 10% for counting. It would have taken me days to roll it all. We had nearly 1800 pennies! I think the poor cashier at WalMart was completely confused on how to redeem the voucher but we walked away with almost $450. Not bad for a year or two of change collecting.

I know I'm behind again. What can I say, we've been gone, school is in full swing and this little girl is zapping what little energy I have left. :)

He walks! (with a little help)

Henry has been cruisin around the furniture for some time now. When I was still pregnant with him, I came across this walk behind toy. It's all wood and soooooo cute! We got it out and Henry loved it!


He gets behind it and goes until he hits a wall or furniture. Luckily, he's the youngest of five so when he hits an obstacle someone is there to help him get back on track.

Look out!

Cute little patient

Henry's before mentioned nut landed him in LeBonheur for the better part of a week. It wasn't an enjoyable experience but have you ever seen anything so sweet in a hospital gown?

Henry was a very good patient. He didn't feel well but he was very easy to get along with. I asked the nurse to put his IV in his left arm so his fingers on his right hand would be free. Fingers and plenty of cuddling with Mommy was all he needed.

These were taken right before he had the procedure to remove the nut. I'll admit, I cried when we had to leave him downstairs for surgery.

Henry on the other hand, handled it just fine.

It was really amazing how much better he felt after the nut was out. When he came back to his room, he took a nap and woke up as the old Henry. He crawled, laughed and played just like he was at home.

The next morning we waited for what seemed like forever to be discharged. Because he would be awaken each night he took several naps a day.

I don't think there is anything more precious than holding a sleeping child.

Playing with Daddy makes everything more fun!

Bye, Bye LeBonheur - you were good to us but we won't miss you!

CUMPLEAÑOS FELIZ DADDY

On Kent's birthday we ended up eating lunch at the Mexican Restaurant. This in itself isn't newsworthy. If you have ever eaten at the local Don Jose and didn't see at least one member of our family, you don't eat out enough. ;)

The kids soooo wanted them to sing to Daddy and after confirming with Unc that it was indeed his birthday they came out with all the fanfare.

Everyone had to try on the hat. Though for some reason they seem to enjoy the festivities more on Daddy's birthday than they did on their own. LOL

Later that night, Madisyn made a cake. It was her first attempt completely unsupervised and she might have pressed a little hard on the icing.

She has since improved her technique and as you can tell, Henry didn't think it hurt the taste at all!

A Bee-utiful day

In early July, I felt the need for a zoo trip. We had a cooler day {certainly cooler than what we've had lately} and I wasn't feeling too nauseous so I asked for volunteers. Ty and Ben wanted to go to work with Daddy so I took Madisyn, Griffin and Henry to the zoo.

We've never visited the Birds and Bees exhibit before and since we were a smaller group than usual it seemed like a good time to check it out.

The first part of the exhibit was in an air conditioned building {YEA!!!!} and had all kinds of information on bees. There is an observation station where you can see in the bee hive and watch the bees fly in and out through a tube. They visit a lovely little flower garden outside a picture window and come back in with their pollen. They also had adorable cut-outs and my little hams enjoyed having their picture taken. In fact, Griffin often asks me to take his picture. Such a difference from his older brother!

Once you've checked out the bees you continue through the building to a screened type structure with tons of butterflies and birds. You can purchase bird food on a stick and the birds will come out the trees to each your treat. We tried to get a picture of a bird near Henry but they weren't interested in getting quite that low.

The birds were also a little leery of Griffin. Can you blame them? A very excited, barley 5 year old boy who jumped around like some of those bees found their way into his clothes! It took awhile but he finally "caught" one.

There is also a really neat water feature complete with koi pond. Henry wanted in the water! but he settled for sitting with Sissy.

We continued up the hill and visited the new Teton Trek exhibit but found it was too late for the grizzlies to be out to play. We thought the polar bears might be taking a dip in the pool but all we found was empty display areas in Northwest passage as well. A lack of animals didn't stop my photo hounds from wanting their picture made though!

The highlight of the visit was getting to ride the tram. After walking all the way to Teton Trek, I was feeling weak. Since Henry had just turned one the operator let him ride for free and we took a little trip around the entire zoo. Griffin and Madisyn thought it was great!

After an ice cream stop in the air conditioned cafe {notice a trend!}, we headed to the playground. Henry and I watched from a shady area while Madisyn and Griffin had the place to themselves.

While I wouldn't have visited if we didn't have a membership, I found going to the zoo an hour or so before closing to be great. The crowd was really thin. It did seem that several of the animals had "gone to bed" but we still had plenty to do.

I also found it very strange to be there with only three children. I kept fighting off a panicky feeling that I had left someone behind!